Philippine police say two families have battled each other with guns due to a longstanding feud, leaving at least seven dead in the country's south.
Such violent clan conflicts, known as "rido," have long complicated security worries in the southern Philippines, which is already mired in decades-long Muslim rebellions.
Police said today that armed members and followers of the Macugar and Capal families confronted each other late Friday in a village of Bayang town in Lanao del Sur province, sparking a gunbattle that left seven people dead and five others wounded.
Police officer Ansari Musa says police and soldiers were sent to the village to prevent more bloodshed, adding it was not immediately clear what the families were fighting about.
